Torrential rains hampered rescue work Sunday in several areas in Pakistan where more than 1,600 people have been killed and 1.5 million more affected in the worst flooding in 80 years, officials said. The helicopter fleet was grounded due to bad weather and swelling rivers and streams washed away more bridges in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, making it difficult to reach tens of thousands of people stranded in remote districts, dpa reported. The Meteorological Department predicted further rains until Tuesday in the northern parts of the country, and issued flood warnings for 10 rivers across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. "Our relief activities are already constrained by the lack of resources available. More rains are making things worse for us," Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the provincial information minister, said. Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told reporters on Sunday that the country did not have "capacity" to deal with the massive disaster. He appealed to the international community for the country's help. New floods killed 173 people in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and northern Pakistan, The News International daily reported on Sunday. Seventy people were believed dead, when their truck overturned in a rushing stream in Lower Dir district. The bodies had not yet been found.
